With AI platforms like ChatGPT transforming how people and AI agents search and shop, brands are pressured to deliver seamless, intelligent experiences. Between July 2024 and February 2025, traffic to U.S. retail websites from generative AI sources grew by 1,200%. To power the future of AI-based shopping and digital retail, New Generation (New Gen), a technology company redefining commerce for the AI internet, launched publicly with $4.5 million in seed funding.
The company is transforming how brands engage with consumers and AI-powered shopping agents by giving every brand its AI-based shopping page that creates a custom experience for each visitor.
New Gen transforms traditional product catalogs into enriched, AI-readable data and fully layers a generative interface. Customers experience instant visual answers through natural language interaction, while AI agents gain direct, structured access through a dedicated address at the AI-specific subdomain (e.g., ai.yourbrand.com). This subdomain also acts as a specialized entry point optimized for human shoppers and AI-driven traffic, ensuring brands can transition to AI-native commerce without overhauling their existing websites or technology stacks.
Shoppers arriving via AI channels land deeper in the sales funnel, prepared to spend more than those engaging with traditional retail experiences. And New Gen ensures brands capitalize on this shift by dynamically tailoring each visitor’s experience based on their unique intent, converting AI-driven traffic directly into sales.
How customers search, shop, and buy is changing in what New Gen calls “AI internet.” And the company’s platform gives brands the tools to build AI-native storefronts that respond to human users or AI agents acting on their behalf.
These visual answer engines dynamically shape themselves around a shopper’s intent, immediately providing relevant results, insights or products, rather than forcing them through rigid navigation or filters. The platform gives brands deeper insight into customer behavior while preserving full creative and data control.
The company was founded by Harvard Business School alumni Adam Behrens and Jonathan Arena and is already working with early enterprise partners to power instant checkout for these experiences. And the company emerged from stealth mode earlier this year, following a $4.5 million seed round led by South Park Commons, with participation from Matrix, Designer Fund, Slow Ventures, Beat Ventures, and notable angel investors including the co-founder of Pinterest, the former COO of Stripe, and the Head of Llama at Meta.
KEY QUOTES:
“Traditional retail websites weren’t designed for the conversational, AI-first future. We’re solving this by creating AI-native storefronts that deliver instant answers and visual, generative experiences without forcing shoppers through rigid navigation or filters. Brands that aren’t optimized for this shift risk immediately losing sales to competitors. We firmly believe brands that build for both humans and machines will own the future of commerce.”
Jonathan Arena, co-founder of New Gen
“SEO and sponsored results reflect a traditional approach that’s worked well in the era of Google search. Commerce is entering a conversational, AI-driven era where customers expect direct answers, not a scavenger hunt. Just as programmatic advertising replaced static banners, AI is fundamentally reshaping discovery and purchasing. Brands need new infrastructure built to engage both humans and AI agents simultaneously. That’s precisely what we’ve built: a fast, dynamic platform designed for this emerging reality.”
Adam Behrens, co-founder of New Gen
“Brands are stuck with static websites in a world where consumers increasingly expect real-time, intelligent, and personalized experiences. New Gen uniquely incorporates the latest AI capabilities with design-forward thinking to create intelligent storefronts that transform how brands serve customers online. Brands that embrace this shift early will capture the next wave of high-intent shoppers arriving through conversational AI channels.”
Evan Tana, Partner at South Park Commons
